Pixelated Playgrounds

Have you ever asked yourself what quirky humor forward take on a breach and clear tactics game featuring wizards might look like? Well about 8 years ago Tom Francis of Suspicious Developments did just that, and what started as a throw away in-joke amongst colleagues is now one of the most impressive and enjoyable indie games of 2024. Bringing his signature wit in the writing and character development along with a tactics sandbox that is polished to a mirror shine Tactical Breach Wizards is a step in the right direction for everything Francis and his studio have been building towards with their previous outings. So hop on your tactical broomstick and set your assault wand to stun as Bryan and Josh flex their magical mastery with Tactical Breach Wizards!

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Tom’s Tactics Triumph

Josh - Terrific, Brief, Witty

Join Josh and Bryan as they flex their design skills, mostly unsuccessfully, and still manage to create incredibly charming scenes with Townscaper and Tiny Glade. Both of these games offer a different take on the ‘city painting’ or ‘diorama design’ genre of creative game. With little to no direction, and a not insignificant helping hand extended to the player, both of these games interpret the player’s design decisions and render them into utterly gorgeous structures, landscapes, and villages. Townscaper, released in 2021, is the passion project of the developer Oskar Stålberg, who also created Bad North among other projects. It allows the player to create a tiny seaside town with just a few clicks. Tiny Glade was released in 2024 and offers the player the opportunity to create a cozy castle or village diorama set in the variety of seasons with a truly impressive camera mode with which the player can then share and experience their creation. So join Bryan and Josh, and lets get creative!

Three Word Reviews:

Townscaper

Bryan - Needs a Checklist

Josh - Building with Oomph

Tiny Glade

Bryan - Daily Creative Meditation

Josh - Cup of Tea

Show Notes:

Web version of Townscaper

Flurdeh’s Youtube Channel

Josh's Latest Game: Neongarten

Its been a while since Bryan and Josh sat down and recorded a podcast about a good old fashioned Narrative Game… enter 1000xResist, the narrative game that Bryan brought to Josh after being completely blown away by the game’s incredible economy of storytelling and deep, varied themes. Needless to say, both were enthralled with Sunset Visitor’s foray into game development and the lengthy conversation they had is testament to the deep read the game received, and deserves. At its heart 1000xResist is a walking sim about a society of clones existing in a post apocalypse an unknown number of years after an alien invasion.  The clones are all descended from a young woman who was immune to the disease that the alien Occupants brought. What makes it unique (among many things) is its attention to cinematography, captivating theming, and frequent narrative swerves. Its an incredible work of storytelling, featuring unique exploration of multiple key topics including: family, immigration, resistance, illness, oppression and more. So join Bryan and Josh in praising the ALLMOTHER that this game graced our PC’s and listen in for an in depth, spoiler-filled discussion of the experience. Hekki Almo, Hekki Grace!

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Break the Cycle

Josh - Watch and Remember

Show Notes:

Devised Narratives

In this podcast Bryan and Josh dive into two minimalistic, manic roguelikes: Tiny Rogues and SNKRX! Tiny Rogues by RubyDev a fantasy rogue-lite dungeon crawler that plays in the bullet hell genre, complete with twin-stick controls. It also boasts some lite RPG elements and a cornucopia of classes to choose from. The ability to end up with a completely wild and enjoyably broken build in Tiny Rogues is extremely entertaining, and kept both Bryan and Josh coming back to see how far they could advance in the game’s meta-progression layer. Next up, with SNKRX the guys build a snake out of RPG party classes and sent them to battle against colorful pellet enemies. SNKRX is the more minimalist of the two, sporting only colorful, pill-shaped enemies on a black background for your multi-colored ‘snake’ to defeat, but the depth of build variety and enjoyable synergies to discover were enough to make this a game that was easy to return to over and over. So get ready to give it ‘one more run’ with Josh and Bryan as they talk through Tiny Rogues and SNKRX!

Three Word Reviews:

Tiny Rogues

Bryan - Bountiful Build Variety

Josh - Bite-sized Bullet Ballet

SNKRX

Bryan - Snakes Sneaking Synergies

Josh - Sneaky Snakey Snack

Show Notes:

SNKRX's post-release log - a327ex

Things are heating up over at Pixelated Playgrounds HQ, but that just because Bryan and Josh have been playing firefighting / cat saving platformer, Nuclear Blaze! Created by Sébastien Bénard, one of the developers behind the excellent Dead Cells, Nuclear Blaze was originally designed for Bénard’s child as he noticed a striking lack of firefighter focused video games. Bénard and his studio Deepnight games, took on the mission of creating a game that his child could play, creating Nuclear Blaze with a built in ‘Kids Mode’ as well as a more difficult ‘Hold my Beer’ mode for players seeking a greater challenge. Sporting some eye-popping pixel art and a novel fire spreading mechanic, Nuclear blaze is a short and sweet platformer with a lot to admire. So grab your hose and helmet and skydive into the depths of Nuclear Blaze with Josh and Bryan.

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - He’s on Fiiiiirreee

Josh - Fun Fiery Explosion

After a development cycle spanning almost a decade, Unicorn Overlord released in March of 2024 to the joy of Ogre Battle fans everywhere! Two of those fans, namely Bryan and Josh, picked up the game and dug right in. With Vanillaware’s signature art and polish on full display Unicorn Overlord makes a stunning first impression and backs it up with an incredibly deep and complex battle system which is fitting for the titles which inspired it. It has been over 25 years since Ogre Battle 64 released for the Nintendo 64, and while Unicorn Overlord does not reach the narrative heights of Ogre Battle or Tactics Ogre, it certainly has enough going for it that folks craving a real time tactical RPG will have plenty to sink their teeth into. So pour yourself a mug of ale and sit down beside the fire with Bryan and Josh as they discuss their experience leading a revolution in Unicorn Overlord!

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Tinkering Against Tyranny

Josh - Somehow Too Much

In this episode Josh and Bryan go down a rabbit hole with 2024 indie hit, Animal Well. What starts off as a non-violent, platforming based metroidvania game, quickly gives way to a truly mysterious and intricately puzzle-driven experience. As the first solo endeavor from developer, Billy Basso, as well as the first title for game game’s publisher, Big Mode, Animal Well is a triumph critically, commercially, and perhaps most importantly, in terms of sheer novelty and design polish. So grab your bubble wand and hop on over to listen to Bryan and Josh puzzle over the incomparable Animal Well!

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Magnificent Mystifying Menagerie

Josh - Play and Discovery

Before 2020, Square Enix had been dancing around the question of how to do justice to a Final Fantasy 7 remaster for over a decade, and with the release of Final Fantasy Remake they finally answered that question. Using a state of the art combat system, a faithful re-interpretation of the source material (with some twists!), and a stunning meta-commentary on what it means to re-make a game, Final Fantasy 7: Remake was a stunning experience that both Clint and Bryan loved. Four years later, with the release of its sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, they sat down to record a podcast on their experience with the two recent Final Fantasy 7 games, with a focus on Rebirth and its impeccable road trip vibes.

The amount of additional context and pathos Square were able to bring to the first disc of the original Final Fantasy 7 alone was enough to excite Bryan and Clint for Rebirth, but they could not have imagined the sheer scale that would be on display with Rebirth’s portion of the story. Overall these two games have Bryan and Clint eagerly anticipating the continuation of this endeavor. So get on your chocobo and ride along with Bryan and Clint as they talk through FInal Fantasy 7 Rebirth!

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Dream Road Trip

Clint - Not Just Nostalgia

Bryan and Josh recently spent some time managing a series of settlements in rogue-like city builder and prophecy-defier, DotAGE. Long time project of solo game developer, Michele Pirovano, DotAGE is wonderful little management sim with bright cheerful pixel art, sharp entertaining writing, and a level of ease and polish that you do not often see in the worker placement genre of games. What really sets the game apart though is the game’s prophecy and apocalypse mechanics, which sets up a series of compelling problems for your fledgling settlement to grapple with. So grab yourself a roast chicken and settle in for a conversation about the hope and despair that Josh and Bryan experienced as they tested their fate playing DotAGE!

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Pixels, Prophecy, Personality

Josh - No Golden Path

Links:

Josh’s interview with Michele Pirovano

Bryan and Josh continue their race down memory lane for the Sonic series with a look at Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2! Both of the guys have a long history with these titles and were excited to take a look back at the character’s origins. While the original Sonic the Hedgehog was certainly an impressive debut for the Sega mascot, it did not have quite as much of the series’ signature speed as one might expect. Meanwhile Sonic the Hedgehog 2, refined and solidified what would become the standard-bearer for the ‘momentum platformer’. So lace up your red kicks and join us in ‘Nostalgia Nights Zone’ for this discussion of Sonics first two titles.

Three Word Reviews:

Sonic the Hedgehog:

Bryan - Gotta Learn Patience

Josh - Solid First Steps

Sonic the Hedgehog 2:

Bryan - Hot-dogs and Happiness

Josh - One to Remember